Sookie Audio Books

True Blood Video

Sookie short stories

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Not only is HBO's sultry vampire drama "True Blood" the pay cable channel's biggest ratings hit since "The Sopranos," it is also on track to become the network's next big cash cow.

DVD sales for the first season of "True Blood" have exploded faster than the veins in Sookie's neck did in Sunday's episode. In its first two weeks of release, almost 725,000 units were sold, which translates to $26 million, according to TV by the Numbers. The show has also become one of the most popular downloads on iTunes. Since HBO produces and owns "True Blood," most of that money will flow back to the cable network.

Of course, like all HBO shows, "True Blood" isn't cheap to make. Although a typical drama on broadcast television may cost north of $2 million an epsiode, HBO's cost $3 million to $4 million an episode. But if the show's success continues, it will be profitable for the network in no time.

The emergence of "True Blood" as a smash hit has to be at least a little bit of a pleasant surprise for HBO. When it premiered last year, it drew only 1.4 million viewers and looked like it would join "John From Cincinnati" and "Tell Me You Love Me" as another quirky flop for the network.

But as the season wore on, its popularlity started to grow. Sunday's second-season premiere drew 3.7 million viewers which, as our sister blog Showtracker notes, was the highest number for an HBO show since the finale of "The Sopranos." HBO reran the premiere episode later that night so all totaled the premiere drew over 5 million viewers.

The strong start of "True Blood" should ensure a decent turnout for HBO's newest comedy, "Hung," about a teacher who decides to use his best asset to become a male gigolo. It premieres June 28.

Although many view the surge of "True Blood" as a sign that HBO's ready to reclaim its cool crown from Showtime, which has gotten a lot of buzz for "Weeds," "Californication" and most recently "Nurse Jackie," HBO's bottom line has remained strong even when its creative side wasn't. The channel, which is in about 30 million homes, generates $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion in profit for parent Time Warner. That would make any vampire thirsty.

So when Sam shows up at MaryAnn's house with the bag of money - he spies the statue.

Carl comes in and says "Mycenaean, I'm told."I'm thinking we are still looking at MaryAnn being a maenad just an Alan Ball version of one.

Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites. The last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece is the historical setting of much Ancient Greek literature and myth, including the epics of Homer.

Remember to this is the definition of Maenad:

In Greek mythology, Maenads were the female followers of Dionysus , the most significant members of the Thiasus, the retinue of Dionysus. Their name literally translates as "raving ones". Often the maenads were portrayed as inspired by him into a state of ecstatic frenzy, through a combination of dancing and drunken intoxication.In this state, they would lose all self control, begin shouting excitedly, engage in uncontrolled sexual behavior, and ritualistically hunt down and tear animals (and sometimes men and children) to pieces, devouring the raw flesh. During these rites, the maenads would dress in fawn skins and carry a thyrsus, a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leavesQuite unlike the Minoans whose society benefited from trade, the Mycenaeans advanced through conquest.Read more es and tipped by a cluster of leaves, weave ivy-wreaths around their heads, and often handle or wear snakes.

All the contestants for contest 1-9 have been notified and prizes wil be mailed later this week. I will announce the winners next week but better yet I will pull together some of the answers and make them blog posts , you guys did an amazing job with some of the contest.

I was on the road Saturday and we couldn't monitor the contest and we just didn't get enough entries for contest 10 so let's change it up a little. ( if you entered on saturday you are already in the running but you are welcome to enter again )

The vampires from the blood-soaked, bare-breasted True Blood series are back — and Viking Vampire Lord Eric has highlights. We're so happy to have you back, gang.

So Sookie and Bill have had two weeks of blissful vampire sex and relaxation, after killing off the completely misunderstood Rene in last year's season finale.

You can tell that from her black eye that Sookie is still dealing with the reality of what she had to do: murder poor Rene. Of course her actually having a black eye makes perfect sense, because it's not like she's dating a vampire with regenerative properties in his blood. But we digress — it has been so long since we've been back in Bon Temps, and not too terribly much has changed. People are still dropping like flies with their hearts ripped out, enjoying elaborate and camera-friendly sexual acts, and Sam's still miserable. The best moment, by far, last night was Viking Vampire Eric's big highlight. He showed up, on camera, with hair foils in. It's like he reads my diary of things we dream of one day doing with giant Fey vampires. Thank you for that, Alan Ball, and without much more ado [because not much happened besides Jason going to vampire-killing camp], let's move on to the Pro/Con list.

Pro: Lafayette is not dead, so everyone can go on living.

Pro: Looks like Andy is getting a little more character cred this season. He deserves it — have you seen this man in The Wire? Unbelievable. I hope they go a bit further with him other than drunk, drunk and more drunk. He's a good actor. It would be such a waste not to use him properly.

Pro: Hooray for Bill talk; it's been too long, you old pale stick-in-the-mud. Of course you recycle and say whilst your life is a joyless hell hole of which you cannot escape, now with teenagers. You are so good at making vampires lame, it's a gift. We missed you, and your pronunciation of Sookie.

Pro: The "Crazy ass, motherfucking, Paul Bunyon pig" quote back at Tara, at the police station reminded me of one of my favorite Tara moments: when she was drinking a BOTTLE of vodka while driving. Subtlety, thy name is True Blood.

Pro: WTF is this basement place? Who the is ... holy hell, that's Lafayette with a beard. Seriously how long did it take you to recognize him? That bucket scenario is brutal. Well done so far — let's just hope this torture has in interesting twist and is being used as a means to an end, not just for sexy, gross torture porn's sake. Seems a little too Saw-like for me as well.

Pro: Bill holding Sookie like he has a stick up his ass. Oh Bill, we know you're not cool. No worries.

By now, you've had a chance to digest the first episode of True Blood Season 2, and we know that you're thirsting for more. And while creator Alan Ball might have gotten one cliffhanger out of the way, he's opened a Pandora's box of questions for fans. Your favorite characters have been resurrected and they are definitely making up for lost time. This season finds Sookie and Bill trying to keep their relationship afloat and stay alive in Dallas, Jason joining an anti-vampire cult, and Tara taking up with a total goddess who likes to party more than she does.

Lucky for you we have something to satiate your hunger for answers until your next True Blood fix. We recently hopped on a conference call with Alan Ball, who was able to shed some light on the gory storyline, on who could be this season's newest villain, and on why we all find vampires impossible to resist.

On up-ing the gory and sexy goodness this season:

Personally, there's a scene where Sookie and Bill make love in the first episode that [on the page] said, "Sookie and Bill make love," and then I saw the dailies – you know I wasn't there when they shot it – and I went, "Oh wow! Okay!"

But, you know, I love it. I think that's part of what the appeal of the show is. I don't think we do anything gratuitously, but it's important to show there is this incredible erotic chemistry. These two people who thought that they had no chance to ever have a real love affair and they found each other, and there's something fantastic and mind-blowing about that.

I did feel like it was important to make Eric more frightening, to see his more monstrous side, because as the season progresses we also see his more human side…Vampires are capable of being monsters and violent. And it was important to have the character, that will remain nameless, who has to deal with all that to suffer from a kind of PTSD over the season because you don't just want to have all that horrible gore and awful psychological experience for him and have him be okay the next day. That's not the way it happens in life.

Shooting her hit show “True Blood” in the Deep South has taught star Anna Paquin to adjust to wearing very little.

In a photo shoot for Self’s July issue, Paquin, who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal as vampire lover/mind reader Sookie Stackhouse, reveals how she beats the heat: skimpy bikinis and short-shorts.

“After I was cast and I realized my body would be exposed all the time, I went out and bought some shorts — I owned none — to help me get used to it,” Paquin reveals.

Her scantily clad character has crept into her real life as well.

“You stop thinking, Do I look weird at this angle? I’ve learned to feel comfortable wearing very little. It’s liberating!” she says.

Paquin has also liberated herself of her need for footwear.

“I love being barefoot,” she confesses. “I’m not going to lie — I love my high heels, too, so I’m completely bipolar in that regard.

True Blood - Latest from KristinTammy in Pound Ridge, N.Y. OMG! The first episode of True Blood was insane! What's next?This Sunday's episode of True Blood is just as good. We see the vulnerable side to young Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll), who misses her family and is not adjusting to her newfound vampireness very well. But she soon turns to her wicked ways as she tricks Sookie into driving her to her parents' house just for a "look" at her family. She does way more than look, and as she's about to kill her mean ol' dad, Bill comes in to save the day. But he's pissed as hell at Sookie for the mess she created. Looks like more makeup sex for them is on the horizon.Jessica in Worchester, Mass.: More on True Blood! Please!In the next episode, more is revealed about Tara's boyfriend Eggs (Mehcad Brooks). We find out that he's spent time in prison for drugs, armed robbery and assault. Meanwhile, Lafayette asks Eric to make him a vampire. But our favorite moment of the next episode is when Sam turns into a dog (again). You must watch!

Whoo doggy, wasn't that fun? There's been so much run-up to this second season of True Blood, I was worried the actual product wasn't going to meet the challenge. The season premiere episode, "Nothing But the Blood," did a good job of juggling all the balls left in the air at the end of last season (dead body in parking lot, the mystery of MaryAnn, Bill's vampire-in-training, Lafayette's fate) while delivering on much of the promise Alan Ball was telling us about last week in interviews. Ball said the second season was going to be "more intense ... a lot scarier (and) sexier." Let's see how he did:More intense? Check.Scarier? Check.Sexier? *Double-check.I'd say that's pretty good. (Spoilers to follow.)

*Those worried that we'd have to wait for some sweet Bill and Sookie nooky certainly had their concerns put to rest. No Cat Power love this time, but having watched a few episodes, I can tell you that Anna Paquin is no longer as shy about showing off her goods.

Alan Ball claims True Blood is pure popcorn, but forgive me if I go all Cliff Notes for a second. I picked up on a theme emerging amidst the thrills, and it's a circular one of reparation. Jason makes amends for his past by giving himself over to the Fellowship of the Sun cult, but he can't do it until Sookie hands over her own reparations given to her by her diddling Uncle Bartlett, who in turn had restitution forced on him by Bill, who, by episode's end is made to apologize for the action the only way a Southern gentleman knows how -- with some well written romantic flattery. Sookie can't resist, and lays thick her best Scarlett O'Hara: "God damn you Bill Compton, I love you." It's bodice-ripping time!

One of the most moving scene of the premier episode of season two had to be when Sookie goes into Gran's bedroom for the first time ...(* in one of the interviews ball says some of the cast and crew brought thier own mementos from their mothers and grandmothers to be in Gran's house scenes as did Ball-these aren't all just stage props)

I've received a number of email questions and comments about a couple things in that scene.

1. What Charlaine book was Gran reading? ( that we see laid half open on the bed)A. The book we see is book 8 of the Aurora Teagarden series , Poppy Done to Death by Charlaine Harris.

If you remember we saw Gran reading Last Scene Alive ( bk 7) in the Aurora Teagarden series in episode 1 in Season 1 as she waited for Sookie to come home. HERE

2. Is that the cryin' pie music we hear ?A. Yes in the background you can hear "Take me home " by Nathan Barr and Lisbeth Scott.More information HERE

Ryan Kwanten, True BloodI'm pretty sure there's no character dumber than True Blood's Jason Stackhouse. The good-looking simpleton may look like an adult, but he has the mind of a child, someone easily convinced of anything. If you tell him something with enough certainty, he will believe you and follow you blindly.

Viewers got a look at this in season 1 when he fell in love with crazy Amy, a woman who roped him into doing drugs while kidnaping and torturing a vampire. But in season 2, Jason Stackhouse is under the control of something far more sinister than a drug-addicted nymphomaniac. Jason is under the spell of religion.

When you came in the air went out.And every shadow filled up with doubt.I don't know who you think you are,But before the night is through,I wanna do bad things with you.

I'm the kind to sit up in his room.Heart sick an' eyes filled up with blue.I don't know what you've done to me,But I know this much is true:I wanna do bad things with you.

When you came in the air went out.And all those shadows there filled up with doubt.I don't know who you think you are,But before the night is through,I wanna do bad things with you.I wanna do real bad things with you.Ow, ooh.

I don't know what you've done to me,But I know this much is true:I wanna do bad things with you.I wanna do real bad things with you